5 shooters teams should target for 2019 NBA Trade Deadline
3. Wayne Ellington, Miami Heat
Wayne Ellington is the least likely player to be available among this group, since the Miami Heat are currently occupying a playoff spot. However, if things continue to go south for a team that’s lost four of its last five contests and only sits 1.5 games ahead of the Detroit Pistons for the 8-seed, it’d make sense to extract some value from an expiring contract.
The Heat love sharpshooter Wayne Ellington, but it’s unrealistic to expect them to re-sign him to another one-year deal this offseason like they did last summer. His $6.3 million salary would be easy for another team to trade for, and there’s no question about his spot-up abilities.
Though he’s only averaging 7.9 points per game this year, they’ve come in just 21.1 minutes a night. He’s canning 37.1 percent of his six 3-point attempts per game, and is a career 38 percent marksman.
Again, it remains to be seen if Miami would actually consider trading a piece of its bench rotation as the playoff race heats up, but he hasn’t played much over the past month, so if a team is desperate enough for 3-point help to make a compelling offer, Pat Riley should at least entertain the idea.